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Extensive aquaculture
Aqua-Boy, a Norwegian live fish carrier used to service the Marine Harvest fish farms on the West coast of Scotland
Limiting for growth here is the available food supply by natural sources, commonly zooplankton feeding on pelagic algae or benthic animals, such ascrustaceans and mollusks. Tilapia species filter feed directly
on phytoplankton, which makes higher production possible. The photosynthetic production can be increased by fertilizing the pond water with artificial fertilizer mixtures, such as potash, phosphorus, nitrogen and microelements. Because most fish arecarnivorous, they occupy a higher place in the trophic chain and therefore only a tiny fraction of primary photosynthetic production (typically 1%) will be converted into harvest-able fish. A second point of concern is the risk of algal blooms. When temperatures, nutrient supply and available sunlight are optimal for algal growth, algae multiply their biomass at an exponential rate, eventually leading to an exhaustion of available nutrients and a subsequent die-off. The decaying algal biomass will deplete the oxygen in the pond water because it blocks out the sun and pollutes it with organic and inorganic solutes (such as ammonium ions), which can (and frequently do) lead to massive loss of fish. Another option is to use a wetland system such as that of Veta La Palma. In order to tap all available food sources in the pond, the aquaculturist will choose fish species which occupy different places in the pond ecosystem, e.g., a filter algae feeder such as tilapia, a benthicfeeder such as carp or catfish and a zooplankton feeder (various carps) or submerged weeds feeder such as grass carp. Despite these limitations significant fish farming industries use these methods. In the Czech Republic thousands of natural and semi-natural ponds are harvested each year for trout and carp. The large ponds around Trebon were built from around 1650 and are still in use.
Sources
Introduction to Aquaculture, college notes, Department of Aquaculture, Wageningen University Aquaculture: training manual, second edition, Donald R. Swift, ISBN 0-85238-194-8
Optimal water parameters for cold- and warm-water fish in intensive aquaculture[2] Acidity Arsenic Alkalinity Aluminum Ammonia (non-ionized) Cadmium Calcium Carbon dioxide Chloride Chlorine Copper Gas supersaturation Hydrogen sulfide Iron Lead Mercury Nitrate Nitrite Oxygen Selenium Total dissolved solids Total suspended solids Zinc pH 6-9 <440 g/L >20 mg/L (as CaCO3) <0.075 mg/L <O.O2mg/L <0.0005 mg/L <0.005 mg/L in hard water >5 mg/L <5-10 mg/L >4.0 mg/L <0.003 mg/L <0.0006 mg/L <0.03 mg/L in hard water <100% total (103% for (102% for lake trout) <0.003 mg/L <0.1 mg/L <0.02 mg/L <0.0002 mg/L <1.0 mg/L <0.1 mg/L 6 mg/L 4 mg/L for warmwater fish <0.01 mg/L <200mg/L <80 NTU over ambient levels <0.005 mg/L for coldwater fish in gas salmonid soft water; pressure eggs/fry) in soft water;
Intensive aquaculture
In these kinds of systems fish production per unit of surface can be increased at will, as long as sufficient oxygen, fresh water and food are provided. Because of the requirement of sufficient fresh water, a massive water purification system must be integrated in the fish farm. A clever way to achieve this is the combination of hydroponic horticulture and water treatment, see below. The exception to this rule are cages which are placed in a river or sea, which supplements the fish crop with sufficient oxygenated water.
as Dinoflagellates) is similar to animal husbandry, especially at high population densities. However, animal husbandry is a larger and more technologically mature area of human agriculture and better solutions to
pathogen problem exist. Intensive aquaculture does have to provide adequate water quality (oxygen, ammonia, nitrite, etc.) levels to minimize stress, which makes the pathogen problem more difficult. This means, intensive aquaculture requires tight monitoring and a high level of expertise of the fish farmer.
Cage system
of microorganisms, plants, algae, tubeworms, barnacles, mollusks, and other organisms.[6] The resistance of organism growth on copper alloy nets also provides a cleaner and healthier environment for farmed fish to grow and thrive. In addition to its antifouling benefits, copper netting has strong structural and corrosion-resistant properties in marine environments.
Copper-zinc brass alloys are currently (2011) being deployed in commercial-scale aquaculture operations in Asia, South America and the USA (Hawaii). Extensive research, including demonstrations and trials, are currently being implemented on two other copper alloys: copper-nickel and copper-silicon. Each of these alloy types has an inherent ability to reduce biofouling, cage waste, disease, and the need for antibiotics while simultaneously maintaining water circulation and oxygen requirements. Other types of copper alloys are also being considered for research and development in aquaculture operations.
The tank water is slowly circulated to the hydroponic beds where the tilapia waste feeds commercial plant crops. Carefully cultured microorganisms in the hydroponic bed convert ammonia to nitrates, and the plants are fertilized by the nitrates and phosphates. Other wastes are strained out by the hydroponic media, which doubles as an aerated pebble-bed filter. This system, properly tuned, produces more edible protein per unit area than any other. A wide variety of plants can grow well in the hydroponic beds. Most growers concentrate on herbs (e.g. parsleyand basil), which command premium prices in small quantities all year long. The most common customers
are restaurant wholesalers. Since the system lives in a greenhouse, it adapts to almost all temperate climates, and may also adapt to tropical climates. The main environmental impact is discharge of water that must be salted to maintain the fishes' electrolyte balance. Current growers use a variety of proprietary tricks to keep fish healthy, reducing their expenses for salt and waste water discharge permits. Some veterinary authorities speculate that ultraviolet ozone disinfectant systems (widely used for ornamental fish) may play a prominent part in keeping the Tilapia healthy with recirculated water. A number of large, well-capitalized ventures in this area have failed. Managing both the biology and markets is complicated. Reference: Freshwater Aquaculture: A Handbook for Small Scale Fish Culture in North America, by William McLarney
Trout and other sport fish are often raised from eggs to fry or
fingerlings and then trucked to streams and released. Normally, the fry are raised in long, shallow concrete tanks, fed with fresh stream water. The fry receive commercial fish food in pellets. While not as efficient as the New Alchemists' method, it is also far simpler, and has been used for many years to stock streams with sport fish. European eel (Anguilla anguilla) aquaculturalists procure a limited supply of glass eels, juvenile stages of the European eel which swim north from theSargasso Sea breeding grounds, for their farms. The European eel is threatened with extinction because of the excessive catch of glass eels by Spanish fishermen and overfishing of adult eels in, e.g., the Dutch IJsselmeer, Netherlands. As per 2005, no one has managed to breed the European eel in captivity.
Issues
See also: Aquaculture of salmon#Issues The issue of feeds in fish farming has been a controversial one. Many cultured fishes (tilapia, carp, catfish, many others) require no meat or fish products in their diets. Top-level carnivores (most salmon species) depend on fish
feed of which a portion is usually derived from wild caught (anchovies, menhaden, etc.). Vegetable-derived proteins have successfully replaced fish meal in feeds for carnivorous fishes, but vegetable-derived oils have not successfully been incorporated into the diets of carnivores. Secondly, farmed fish are kept in concentrations never seen in the wild (e.g. 50,000 fish in a 2-acre (8,100 m2) area.[10]) with each fish occupying less room than the average bathtub. This can cause several forms of pollution. Packed tightly, fish rub against each other and the sides of their cages, damaging their fins and tails and becoming sickened with various diseases and infections. This also causes stress. However, fish tend also to be animals that aggregate into large schools at high density. Most successful aquaculture species are schooling species, which do not have social problems at high density. Aquaculturists tend to feel that operating a rearing system above its design capacity or above the social density limit of the fish will result in decreased growth rate and increased FCR (food conversion ratio - kg dry feed/kg of fish produced), which will result in increased cost and risk of health problems along with a decrease in profits. Stressing the animals is not desirable, but the concept of and measurement of stress must be viewed from the perspective of the animal using the scientific method.[11] Sea lice, particularly Lepeophtheirus salmonis and various Caligus species, including Caligus
clemensi and Caligus rogercresseyi, can cause deadly infestations of both farm-grown and wild salmon.[12][13] Sea lice are ectoparasites which feed on mucus, blood, and skin, and migrate and latch onto the skin of wild salmon during days. free-swimming, planktonic nauplii and copepodid larval stages, which can persist for several
[14][15][16]
Large numbers of highly populated, open-net salmon farms can create exceptionally large
concentrations of sea lice; when exposed in river estuaries containing large numbers of open-net farms, many young wild salmon are infected, and do not survive as a result. [17][18] Adult salmon may survive otherwise critical numbers of sea lice, but small, thin-skinned juvenile salmon migrating to sea are highly vulnerable. On the Pacific coast of Canada, the louse-induced mortality of pink salmon in some regions is commonly over 80%.[19] A 2008 meta-analysis of available data shows that salmon farming reduces the survival of associated wild salmon populations. This relationship has been shown to hold for Atlantic, steelhead, pink, chum, and coho salmon. The decrease in survival or abundance often exceeds 50 percent. [20] Diseases and parasites are the most commonly cited reasons for such decreases. Some species of sea lice have been noted to target farmed coho and Atlantic salmon.[21] Such parasites have been shown to have an effect on nearby wild fish. One place that has garnered international media attention is British Columbia's Broughton Archipelago. There, juvenile wild salmon must "run a gauntlet" of large fish farms located off-shore near river outlets before making their way to sea. It is alleged that the farms cause such severe sea lice infestations that one study predicted in 2007 a 99% collapse in the wild salmon population by 2011. [22] This claim, however, has been criticized by numerous scientists who question the correlation between increased fish farming and increases in sea lice infestation among wild salmon.[23]
Because of parasite problems, some aquaculture operators frequently use strong antibiotic drugs to keep the fish alive (but many fish still die prematurely at rates of up to 30 percent [24]). In some cases, these drugs have entered the environment. Additionally, the residual presence of these drugs in human food products has become controversial. Use of antibiotics in food production is thought to increase the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in human diseases.[25] At some facilities, the use of antibiotic drugs in aquaculture has decreased considerably due to vaccinations and other techniques.[26] However, most fish farming operations still use antibiotics, many of which escape into the surrounding environment.[27] The lice and pathogen problems of the 1990s facilitated the development of current treatment methods for sea lice and pathogens. These developments reduced the stress from parasite/pathogen problems. However, being in an ocean environment, the transfer of disease organisms from the wild fish to the aquaculture fish is an everpresent risk.[28] The very large number of fish kept long-term in a single location contributes to habitat destruction of the nearby areas. The high concentrations of fish produce a significant amount of condensed faeces, often contaminated with drugs, which again affect local waterways. However, these effects are very local to the actual fish farm site and are minimal to non-measurable in high current sites. Concern remains that resultant bacterial growth strips the water of oxygen, reducing or killing off the local marine life. Once an area has been so contaminated, the fish farms are moved to new, uncontaminated areas. This practice has angered nearby fishermen.[29] Other potential problems faced by aquaculturists are the obtaining of various permits and water-use rights, profitability, concerns about invasive species and genetic engineering depending on what species are involved, and interaction with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In regards to genetically modified farmed salmon, concern has been raised over their proven reproductive advantage and how it could potentially decimate local fish populations, if released into the wild. Biologist Rick Howard [30] did a controlled laboratory study where wild fish and GMO fish were allowed to breed. The GMO fish crowded out the wild fish in spawning beds, but the offspring were less likely to survive. The colorant used to make pen-raised salmon appear rosy like their wild cousins has been linked with retinal problems in humans. [29]
Labeling
In 2005, Alaska passed legislation requiring that any genetically altered fish sold in the state be labeled.[31] In 2006, a Consumer Reports investigation revealed that farm-raised salmon is frequently sold as wild.[32] In 2008, the US National Organic Standards Board allowed farmed fish to be labeled as organic provided less than 25% of their feed came from wild fish. This decision was criticized by the advocacy group Food & Water Watch as "bending the rules" about organic labeling.[33] In the European Union, fish labeling as to species, method of production and origin, has been required since 2002.[34]
Concerns continue over the labeling of salmon as farmed or wild caught, as well as about the humane treatment of farmed fish. The Marine Stewardship Council has established an Eco label to distinguish between farmed and wild caught salmon,[35] while the RSPCA has established the Freedom Food label to indicate humane treatment of farmed salmon as well as other food products.[34]
Slaughter methods
Tanks saturated with carbon dioxide have been used to make fish unconscious. Then their gills are cut with a knife so that the fish bleed out before they are further processed. This is no longer considered a humane method
of slaughter. Methods that induce much less physiological stress are electrical or percussive stunning and this has led to the phasing out of the carbon dioxide slaughter method in Europe.[37]
Inhumane methods
According to T. Hstein of the National Veterinary Institute, "Different methods for slaughter of fish are in place and it is no doubt that many of them may be considered as appalling from an animal welfare point of view." [38] A 2004 report by the EFSA Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare explained: "Many existing commercial killing methods expose fish to substantial suffering over a prolonged period of time. For some species, existing methods, whilst capable of killing fish humanely, are not doing so because operators dont have the knowledge to evaluate them."[39] Following are some of the less humane ways of killing fish.
Air Asphyxiation. This amounts to suffocation in the open air. The process can take upwards of 15 minutes to induce death, although unconsciousness typically sets in sooner.
[40]
Ice baths / chilling. Farmed fish are sometimes chilled on ice or submerged in near-freezing water. The purpose is to dampen muscle movements by the fish and to delay the onset of post-death decay. However, it does not necessarily reduce sensibility to pain; indeed, the chilling process has been shown to elevate cortisol. In addition, reduced body temperature extends the time before fish lose consciousness.
[41]
CO2 narcosis. Exsanguination without stunning. This is a process in which fish are taken up from water, held still, and cut so as to cause bleeding. According to references in Yue[42] , this can leave fish writhing for an average of four minutes, and some catfish still responded to noxious stimuli after more than 15 minutes.